From NEHJ: 2013-14 High School Season Preview

Any talk in Division 1 annually
starts with Fairfield Prep, which graduated all kinds of talent but
typically reloads for another run. Matt Beck is a proven quantity
in goal and the Jesuits are usually good about building out from
the net. … Keep an eye on Northwest Catholic, new to the
division this year after reaching the finals and quarterfinals its
last two years in Division 2. … Notre Dame-West Haven lost
sniper Billy Vizzo to juniors and has a new coach in Tim Belcher,
while Notre Dame-Fairfield mixes in a collection of transfers as it
tries to improve on last year’s 10th-place finish and
first-round playoff exit. … The Division 2 ranks will be
bolstered with the additions of Cheshire and North Haven from
Division 1 and champ Newington-Berlin-Manchester from Division 3.
… Daniel Hand, with a new head coach in Ken Mitchell, could
be in the Division 2 mix as well, along with last year’s
regular-season champion, Amity, and runner-up East Catholic.
… New Canaan, which has won six of the eight girls state
championships — and was the runner-up the other two years
— will again be the favorite, even with record-breaking
scorer Olivia Hompe, a two-time All-American who holds the state
girls hockey points record, now playing at Princeton.

If Class A has a strong
collection of contenders, all eyes should be on two-time defending
champion Greely in Class B. Ted Hart, who was named the Outstanding
Player in Western Maine Class B and is the latest in a long family
lineage of impact players, is prepping at Phillips Exeter Academy,
but a good part of the core returns. That includes junior goalie
Kyle Kramlich, whose 17 saves blanked Messalonskee in the state
title game; and junior forwards Reid Howland and Mitchell Donovan.
… Lewiston has played — and lost — in two of the
last three Class A championships, and has its top line back:
seniors Kyle Lemelin (18-21-39), Matt Poulin and Evan Gosselin.
Defenseman Ethan Melvin and Max Bolduc will anchor the blue line.
Rival St. Dom’s also bears watching. … Bangor
headlines the list of contenders in Eastern Maine Class A. Old Town
and Orono will form a cooperative team for the first time, as will
Lawrence and Skowhegan. … Other contenders in Western Maine
Class A include defending state champ Falmouth, Thornton Academy,
Biddeford and Scarborough.

Somehow, some way, Malden
Catholic made it a third straight Super 8 tournament title last
year climbing out of a first-half slump and claiming the 10th and
final spot in the bracket. So nobody’s writing off the
Lancers. Junior forward Ara Nazarian is a UNH commit. …
Austin Prep, BC High, Catholic Memorial, Central Catholic, St.
John’s Prep and Springfield Cathedral are also mentioned
among the privates, while top public contenders include Burlington,
Falmouth, Winchester, Melrose, Hingham and Framingham. …
Burlington’s hopes for a third straight title will rest on a
good returning group of defensemen, senior Adam Crowley, junior
Mike Bibbey, and sophomores Josh Boulos and Shane O’Halloran.
The team it beat in last year’s final — Marshfield
— graduated 14 seniors, but has good players back in seniors
Colin MacDonald and Liam Manning, plus top returning scorer Pat
Shea, a junior. … Sandwich could be the team to beat in
Division 2, while Wilmington has a standout goalie in Drew Foley.
… On the girls side, it’s all about dethroning the
champions. St. Mary’s (Lynn) won its fourth Division 1 title
in six seasons last winter, while Duxbury won in Division 2 for the
third year in a row, the last two by beating Falmouth in the
final.

It was a return to prominence
for the Queen City on the ice last winter, with Manchester
Memorial, which lost in the 2012 final, beating Manchester Central,
3-2, in a thrilling championship game. With Trinity contending most
years — winning a title in 2010-11 — hockey in
Manchester is enjoying a resurgence. Whether those teams can keep
recent powers like Bishop Guertin, Concord, Pinkerton and Hanover
out of the winner’s circle is this year’s question.
… St. Thomas Aquinas, a semifinalist last year, returns
two-thirds of one of the best lines in the state with senior Glenn
Wiswell and sophomore Ty Turgeon. Londonderry and Salem are two
other teams that should never be counted out. …
Merrimack (Division 2) and Berlin (Division 3) are looking to take
care of unfinished business. Both finished the regular season atop
their respective league standings but lost in the championship
games, to Bedford and John Stark/Hopkinton. … Bedford and
Spaulding should provide some of Merrimack’s stiffest
competition in Division 2. … On the girls side, Hanover has
won five of the six girls state titles awarded since that sport was
recognized by the NHIAA in 2008, including the last four. It
defeated Oyster River in last year’s final, 3-1, and will
lean on sophomore forwards Matti Hartman, Kelly Brigham and Julie
Montgomery.

After celebrating its 43rd state
championship last March, Mount St. Charles takes to the ice needing
to replace four of its top six scorers, including league scoring
co-champ Tyler Scroggins, who is now at Williston-Northampton. The
news is better on defense (with Keith Phaneuf) and in goal (with
Brian Larence). .… The 2012 champ, Bishop Hendricken, which
went 15-4-1, also has some rebuilding to do after graduating a host
of good players and losing sniper Matt Creamer to the Selects
Academy at South Kent. … Beyond the two perennial
powers, Coventry is solid in goal but graduated lots up front and
on defense. … In Division 2, finalists Lincoln and Prout
must each replace its top three scorers. Prout was particularly
senior-heavy. … The LaSalle girls boast the best last line
of defense in sophomore goalie Taylor Peltier.

Great finish in Division 1 a
year ago, with CSB Cup rivals South Burlington and Champlain Valley
Union meeting in the final at Gutterson Fieldhouse. … It was
the first state title for SBHS since back-to-back titles in 1992-93
and 1993-94 and completed its climb from a .500 team just two years
prior. Of the eight seniors lost, a group that includes standout
forward Tommy Royer, four were defensemen, so that’s where
the building starts. Forwards Matt Baechle and Gabe Simpatico and
goalie David Streeter are three seniors to watch. … Essex
has finished first or second in the standings in each of the last
five years but only has title game losses in 2009 and 2011 to show
for it. North Country has reached the semifinals in each of the
last two years. … Colchester, an annual quarterfinalist, has
players back, but lost forward Avery Steele to the Selects Academy
at South Kent. … In Division 2, U-32 has won the title in
each of the last two years.